knudsen



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet l.

K. KNUDSEN. CIRCUIT CONTROLLER FOR ELECTRIC VEHICLES. No. 586,606. n Patented July 26,1697.v

I am f *7m i 1 n @fr @MRW wf/0T (No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

K. KNUDSEN. CIRCUIT CONTROLLER ECR ELECTRIC VEHICLES.

No. 586,606. Patented July 20,1897.v

Tn: naam: Pzrcns co.. mcYoLma, wunmamn, D. c.

UNITED STATES PATENT OEEICE.

KARSTEN KNUDSEN, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO TIIE AMERICAN ELECTRIC VEHICLE COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

CIRCUIT-CONTROLLER FOR ELECTRIC VEHICLES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 586,606, dated July 20, 1897.

Application iilecl October 21,1896. Serial No. 609,535. (No model.)

To all whom t may concern:

Beit known that I, KARsTEN KNUDsEN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Circuit-Controllers for Electric Vehicles, of which the following is a full, clear, concise, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying draw-Y io ings, forming a part of this specification.

My invention relates to an improved form of circuit-controlling switch for electric vehicles more particularly applicable to electric carriages.

My object is to provide a switch that shall be effective in operation and that can be constructed at small cost.

I have illustrated my invention in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure l is a view in elevation, partially in section, of the controller of my invention. Fig. 2 is an end View thereof. Fig. 3 is a diagram of the circuit connections. Fig. 4 is a detached view of the contact-arms.

Like letters and numerals refer to like parts in the several figures.

A casting or frame a is provided, which may be secured in any convenient position by means of screws or bolts passing through the holes a a. `Vhen applied to electric carriages, the frame is mounted beneath the seat, as illustrated in Fig. 2, so that the operating handle or lever may extend in convenient position to be grasped by the rider sitting on the scat. Upon the casting is mounted a wooden bar or beam b, secured at the ends to the frame by bolts b b. The contactlingers c c' c2, etc., are secured to the face of the bar b by means of bolts b2 b2. The contact-finger is in form like a tu11ing-fork,l1aving two resilient members d d', carrying on the inner faces at the ends projecting contactsurfaces d2 d3, tapered at the edges to permit the -contact-arms to readily pass between the same when moving in either direction. The contact-faces normally rest at a distance apart less than the thickness of the contact-arm, so that the members of the fork are pressed apart when the contact-arm passes between the members of the fork to press with considerable force against the contact-arm to effect a .perfect electrical contact.

Upon the frame a are provided standards a2 a2, in which Iit bolts asa, the ends of which extend into and serve as bearings for the rod or bar e. Upon one end of the rod e a capcasting e is secured by means of a pin e2, passing through the cap and the rod. The rod e passes through a bore in a bar of wood e3 of square cross-section, and upon the bar 6o of wood the collars f and c, carrying the contact-arms f g', and the collar h, carrying the contacts It' i', are placed, thin strips of insulating material e4 being placed between the collars. Upon the end of the rod c is placed a cap e5, resting against but insulated from the series of collars on the bar of wood. A nut e0 screws upon the threaded end of the rod e and against the cap e5 to clamp the collars between the caps e and e5. As illustrated 7o in Fig. 4, the contact-arms and collars are made in two general forms, one having two arms h' i', extending perpendicularly from the sides of the collar and at right angles to each other, the other having the arms extend- 7 5 ing obliquely from one corner of the collar and having the end offset to lie in a different plane from that of the collar. One of the first form and two of the second form are laid together, as illustrated, to form the series of 8o contact-arms lying in a common plane, two of the arms being electrically connected, the other arms being relatively insulated from each other and from the two connected arms. Projections or lugs Hare provided, having recesses Z/ l/ to receive the ends of the conducting-wires, which may be soldered therein.

Upon the cap e is provided a segmental gear m, with which meshes a segmental gear m, carried on the end of the operating-lever 9o m2, pivoted at m3 upon the frame a. Near the handle mL of the operating-lever is pivoted the linger-lever m5, to which is journaled the rod m6, carrying the plunger m7, moving in a bore in the lug m8, the plunger being depressed by a spring m to engage one of the series of notches m10 m10, whereby the operating-lever may be locked in position to maintain any one of the four contact-arms in contact with the contact-fingers.

IOO

The circuit connections are illustrated diagrammatically in Fig. 3, in which n 1t yn? 'n3 are four series of secondary batteries, of three cells each in the present instance, which it is desired to connect in different parallelseries, and parallel-series arrangement to change the speed and power of the motor driving the carriage.

In the diagram the contacts in each vertical row represent one of the series of contactarms lying in a common plane, the contacts being developed into a plane for clearness. The contact-fingers c c', tbc., are illustrated in engagement with the first horizontal row of arms that is in engagement with arms i', which engage the lingers when the operatinglever occupies its vertical or lirst position. The positions indicated in the diagram as second, third, and fourth positions are those in which the lingers engage the contact-arms .7All U' 7L', respectively.

rlhe negative poles of the cells are connected, respectively, with the contact-lingers c c2 c c4, while the positive poles are connected with the lingers c5 cG cT cs. The linger cs is connected with one side of the motor and with a terminal for charging the cells, while the opposite charging-terminal is connected with the linger c. rlhe opposite side of the motor is connected with the linger c. In the first position the motor is disconnected from the circuit, while the cells are connected in series and are on open circuit. The cells maybe charged in this position. The circuit through the cells may be traced from the charging-terminal and cell n to nger ci", con tacts 2O 23 ll S, linger c?, cell n', finger c, contacts 2 27 l5 l2, linger c3, cell n?, nger c7, contacts 2S 3l ll) 1G, linger ci, cell/a3, tothe ehargi11g-terminal. lVhen the second row of contact-arms engages the lingers, as in the second position, the motor-circuit is closed and the four sets of cells are included in circuit in parallel branches. The circuit may be traced from the motor to linger c, contact l, thence to contacts 5 tl 13 17 and to the lingers c c2 c4, through the cells 'a n' n? n3 in parallel, thence from cell ai; to the motor and from the other cells to Fingers c5 cG c7 to contacts 2l 25 20, thence to contact 32, finger cs, to the motor. In the third position the four sets of cells are arranged in series parallel, cells n fn/ being' in parallel with each other, as are also cells n? n3, the two groups being included in series. rlhe circuit may be traced from the motor by linger c to contact 2, thence to contacts (5 and l0, fingers c' c2, through cells n n' in parallel to lingers c5 c6, contacts 22 2G, contacts 1J.: 1S, Fingers c3 CS1, cells 'adn/3, from cell n3 to motor and from cell n2 to Hngcrcl, contacts 30 33, to linger ci", to motor. In the fourth position the cells are connected in series, the circuit being traced from the motor through linger c to contacts 3 and 7, linger c, cell n, linger c5, contacts 23 ll, linger c2, cell vit', linger c, contacts 27 l5, linger c3,

cell n2, linger cl, contacts 3l 15), linger c, cell n3, to the motor.

Having described lny invention, what ,l claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

l. The combination with a number of collars mounted side by side upon a rotatable support, Of contact-arms carried upon said collars, the ends or contact portions of certain of said contact-arms being laterally displaced to bring the ends of all the contactarms in a common plane perpendicular to the axis oi' rotation, and a contact with which said arms severally engage as the support is rotated, substantially as described.

The combination with a number of collars mounted side by side upon a rotatable support, of contact-arms carriedupon said collars, the ends or contact portions of the contact-arms ot' the several collars lying in a common plane perpendicular to the axis of rotation ol the support, and a contact with which said arms severally engage as the support is rotated, substantially as described.

8. The combination with three collars mounted side by side upon a rotatable part, of a pair of contactarms mounted upon the middle collar and occupying positions at right angle to each other, contact-arms mounted upon the other collars, lying between the above-mentioned contact-arms and having the ends laterally displaced to lic in a common plane with the contact-arms on the middle collar, and a contact-linger comprising two members ci' spring metal having opposed contact-surfaces at the ends, between which surfaces the contact-arms are adapted to be passed, the contact-surfaces normally resting at a distance apart less than the thickness of the contact-arms to cause the members of the contact-fin ger to resiliently press against the contact-arms, substantially as described.

et. The combination with three collars mounted side by side upon a rotatable part, of a pair of contact-arms mounted upon the middle collar and occupying positions at right angle to each other, contact-arms mounted upon the other collars lying between the above-mentioned contact-arms and having the ends laterally displaced to lie in a common pla-ne with the contact-arms on the middle collar, and a contact with which said con` tact-arms individually engage as the contactarms are rotated, substantially as described.

5. As a new article of manufacture, a contact-tin ger for circuit-controllers formed from a single piece of metal and comprising two parallel members carrying at the ends inwardly-projecting contact faces extending throughout a portion only of the length of the member the outer and inner edges of each of said projecting faces being oblique, whereby a contact-arm may be passed between said resilient members, substantially as described.

G. As a new article of manufacture, a contact-linger for circuit-controllers comprising IOO IIO

two parallel members carrying at the ends inwardly-projecting contact-faces extending throughout a portion only of the length of the member, whereby a contact-arm may be passed between said resilient members to make and break contact with said projecting contact-faces, substantially as described.

7. The combination with a contact-finger comprising two resilient members, each member carrying at the end on the inner face an inwardly-projecting contact-face extending throughout a portion only of the length of the member, of a contact-arm moving in an axial direction between the resilient members of said contact-iin gers and makin g and breaking contact with said 'linger by passing into and out of contact with the projecting contact-faces on the resilient members, substantially as described.

8. In a circuit-controller, the combination with the bar e3 of insulating material of the collars f, g, h, mounted thereon and carrying contact-arms lying in a series of parallel planes and angularly arranged, the insulating-pieces e4 between said collars, the rod c passing through a bore in said bar e3 and j ournaled at the ends, the caps e and e5 and the nut e6 screwing upon the end of said rod e and clamping the collars between the caps e and e5, substantially as described.

9. The combination with a rotatable support of a number of collars mounted thereon side by side, contact-arms carried upon said collars and arranged in groups the ends of certain of the contact-arms being laterally displaced to bring the contact portions of the arms of-each group in a plane perpendicular to the axis of rotation of the support', substantially as described.

In witness whereof I hereunto subscribe my name in the presence of two witnesses.

KARSTEN KNUDSEN.

Vitnesses:

CHARLES E. CORRIGAN, W CLYDE JoNEs. 

